Rochester Fire Dept. honored for programs in 2011, as well as no fire-related deaths

Friday

Sep 21, 2012 at 3:15 AMSep 21, 2012 at 5:34 AM

By Samantha Allen sallen@fosters.com

ROCHESTER — The Rochester Fire Department was recently awarded a Life Safety Achievement award for its work in 2011, with no fire-related fatalities, but Chief Norm Sanborn gives all of the credit to his crew.

"There are a lot of good inspection programs. Good ordinances have been put in place in the last few years," he said. "Things like that have made the community a lot safer."

The Operation Life Safety Achievement Award is presented jointly by the National Association of State Fire Marshals Fire Research and the Education Foundation and the Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company. The award, since 1994, recognizes fire departments for having "outstanding fire safety statistics" as well as prevention programs and a record of at least a 10 percent reduction in fire-related fatalities.

Sanborn acknowledged the work of Fire Marshal Dominick Bellio along with Capt. Don McCullough, as well, for enforcing the latest structure codes and reaching out to educate the community on safety.

But compared to the 2011 calendar year, Sanborn pointed out there have been many more "working fire" related incidents recently. The latest incidents include a structure fire in downtown Rochester last Friday, at 6 North Main Street, considered to be suspicious and still under investigation by Rochester police at this time, as well as a fire at an apartment on Magic Avenue in August and another, on Heaton Street, in July.

"We call that the nature of the beast," Sanborn said, noting it's hard to explain trends and why fires happen, more so than in previous years.

Bellio said he is impressed by how quickly the department responds to these calls, noting crews showed up at the downtown fire last week within minutes.

"(Capt. McCullough) was actually at the Fairgrounds doing an inspection and responded to the scene," Bellio said.

With the Rochester Fair starting that night, Sanborn said every one worked diligently to knock the fire down and block off traffic, in a dangerous building built at the turn of the century which he said could have easily gone up in flames.

With modern structures designed more safely these days, Bellio said his department has been working to ensure they stay that way.

He said along with no deaths in 2011, his team worked to ensure all gas stations, motels and hotels were up to code, with annual inspections at each public school, too. By December 2012, he said he expects most clubs and other nighttime entertainment establishments will be up to code with their inspection requirements for sprinkler systems.

Additionally, the department is working to ensure each level of specific living structures has a proper carbon monoxide monitor in place, per order of a new code, which will go into effect on July 1, 2013. Bellio and McCullough have also been building their "juvenile firesetter's intervention and prevention" program, too.

"Ultimately, the fire prevention program in Rochester has always consisted of public education in the schools, school fire inspections and general life safety inspections, things like that," Bellio said. "We've basically expanded that in the last year to include (more) inspections."

The department is planning to host a Fire Prevention Day at the Rochester Home Depot at 280 North Main Street on Oct. 6, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., with a smoke trailer and a children's workshop for younger attendees.

"Everybody's working hard to make the community as safe as it can be. You've got mixed types of occupancies here and in an old community like this, you've got a lot of older buildings that have never had anything done," Sanborn added. "żI think there's been a lot of effort and good emphasis in the last five or six years on prevention with all of these initiatives."